Breath of New Life
by CatGirl149
Summary: After waking from a deep sleep, Link mysteriously finds himself in a world in which civilization is gone, and nature has taken over. Left to his own devices, Link sets out to discover what else became of society, live off the land, and endure nature's unwelcoming creatures accompanied by the son he didn't know he had. An AU inspired by Breath of the Wild.


" _Open your eyes…"_

The soothing, beckoning voice of an unknown deity resonated through the stone walls of a hidden chamber tucked away deep in the woods. Anyone and anything hearing the sound immediately fell victim to an unconscious obedience due to the sense of purity in the being's verbal communication.

" _Wake up, Link."_

Mice and other little creatures in the chamber scurried away as the receiver of the being's message and owner of the name called slowly stirred and sat up in the strangely-illuminated container he slept in. He scanned the rocky-walled area with a pair of curious, confused eyes, scratching his head in befuddlement. He couldn't quite recall bearing witness to such a bizarre environment moments before transitioning into the unconscious state. What had happened to him? Where was the bedroom in which he had rested his head and eyes? Surely it would never cross his mind to take up shelter and residence in a cold little temple that had vines outstretched on the walls!

"What is this place? How did I get here?" he pondered aloud.

Link sighed heavily, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to piece together information by staring at the enclosed area around him alone. He rose from his resting place and carefully trotted ahead, slowing to pay close attention to the chamber's finer details in case they provided any hints pertaining to his man of distinctively-pointed ears soon came across a tan shirt and brown pants that curiously sat neatly-folded upon a flat surface of stone; he looked down to notice the only thing he was wearing at the moment was a pair of dark blue boxers. Link figured that he just couldn't go out and uncover mysteries about his predicament wearing only his undergarments!

After assembling his precariously-placed clothes together, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that there was a door that stood a few feet away from where the clothing had lied. Link suddenly acquired a sense of excitement in addition to worry and fear; what lied beyond that passageway to the outside that he was not yet prepared to see?

He approached the door, lifting up a cautious hand and pushing it open in tense anticipation. After the sun greeted his eyes with blinding light and he recovered his vision soon afterwards, Link took a good look at the scenery around him and instantly felt like a little Kansas girl in a world of yellow brick roads. Instead of the usual, thriving and bustling cities of lively people he was used to seeing, there were large stretches of grassy land, fruitful and pine trees that surrounded the area on all sides, and an abundance of wildlife that graced the skies and galloped across the valley. After taking it all in, his heart began to beat at an abnormally fast rate; his mind clouded in shock with a desperate hope that none of what he was seeing was real.

"No! This can't be happening!" he screamed, a delayed echo following his words. "Where is everybody? What happened to my town? How long have I been asleep?"

It was at that very moment that he realized he could not remember much of his past life beyond where his hometown was and the people he used to share a neighborhood with. He fell to his knees and shook uncontrollably, frightened and unsure of what his next course of action should be. The environment appeared as if either nature had taken over or Link had been moved to a new location in the midst of his slumber, and there was no other human soul in sight. Where was he to go? What was he supposed to do? Who or what had affected his memories?

At once, Link lifted himself off the ground and attempted to keep a cool, level head and composure. "Well, I guess I'm not going to get anywhere just standing here asking myself questions. There's gotta be someone or some _thing_ out there that could guide me in the right direction."

Link began marching along the provided path surfaced along the temple's grassy hill, and after only a few steps into his trek…

"Hey, Dad! Wait up!"

Link paused in his tracks but did not think to turn around. It didn't register in his brain that anyone should refer to him as a fatherly figure, but he was absolutely thrilled to hear the voice of another human being. Unbeknownst to him, a child with facial features similar to his own who enunciated the spoken words approached him from behind as he exited the mysterious temple.

"Don't leave me behind, Dad! I don't like being all by myself."

The older male suddenly turned to face the young one. "Look, kid, I don't know who you're talking to, but I really need to know what's going on around here. I don't know how I got here or what happened to my friends and family."

"I know just how you feel, Dad. I'm afraid and confused."

"Kid, I don't know what kind of charade you've got going on, but if there's someone else out there that you're referring to as your father, I'd really love to know where he is."

"It's YOU. _You're_ my dad."

"Yeah, right," Link laughed. "I don't have any kids."

"But I'm your son! How could you forget that?"

At that point, Link was simmering in growing frustration and losing patience with the bundle of youth. "Cut the funny business. This is no time for games." He averted his gaze towards the vast, open field of grass. The child noticed a longing stare form onto the elder's face. "Where did all of _this_ come from? Just the other night, I was sleeping comfortably in my soft bed in my own home, but I managed to somehow wake up in an entirely different world without the familiar, friendly faces or the town that I could easily find my way around…"

"I guess we're both in the same boat then, aren't we?"

"What do you mean? This isn't some sort of prank you pulled?"

"No, because I've experienced a similar situation. The last thing I remember was resting my eyes and leaning against a tree in front of our house, and then I woke up in a cold, isolated platform in this temple just like you, Dad."

All of a sudden, Link conceived a sense of compassion for the young human. He couldn't feel any connection, blood-related or otherwise, to an offspring of any kind like the child was constantly implying, but knowing that he actually was not all alone in the world, and that he shared the same predicament with another person calmed him somewhat and gave him reassurance that he would find a resolution in the world somewhere.

"I don't think I quite caught your name, kid. What do you go by?"

"Well, last I checked… You named me Junior."

Figuring he could use the company, Link suggested, "Alright, Junior, since we both know where the other one stands, why don't you tag along with me while I try to find out what happened to civilization?"

Junior's innocent eyes dilated and pointy ears perked up in anticipation. "Do you mean that?"

"Absolutely. Just don't get us in any danger or call me Dad, OK?"

"You got it, Dad!"

"I swear, if you call me Dad ONE more time…you're on your own."

So the unlikely pair with a past shrouded in mystery set out on their adventure with a scale grander than they could imagine; to utilize their survival skills and live off the land and discover the truth behind the disappearance of their once forest-free society.

* * *

 **Author Notes:** **Hey, everyone! I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! I was blown away by the Breath of the Wild trailer at E3 this year, and it was such an inspiration for this fanfic! I don't know much of the story behind it, but I thought it would make for an interesting plot if he wasn't familiar with the setting and had a tag-along that he didn't know was his own blood.  
If you're excited about Breath of the Wild and/or have suggestions for this story, let me know in a review!**


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